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Ask HN: How do you find the energy to work on hobbies/projects after work?

3 points by charliebwrites ↗ HN
After a day's work I am often fried. I want nothing more than to plop on the couch and melt and watch dumb tv because my brain is too fried to do anything else.

This is a bummer because I have multiple app/script ideas I'd love to work on which have been sitting in the back of my brain for months at this point.

I could have a second cup of coffee to keep me going, but at a certain point I'm just wired and fried vs fried and not wired, and my sleep can be affected when I do this.

I sleep well, I run in the mornings, sometimes lift weights later in the day, eat well, and have a decent enough social life. I'm not depressed by any measure, just exhausted from the work day.

How do I summon the mental clarity and energy to pursue my hobbies after a long day of work?

7 comments

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cinntaile
Try doing it before work if you don't have the energy after work.
E39M5S62
I've found that a social connection helps motivate me to work on hobbies/projects. If I start talking with people on IRC about projects, I'll start poking at code and share screenshots / diffs of what I'm working on for a quick feedback loop. Working in isolation is stiffling for me and quickly leads to being burnt out - or bored.
[deleted]
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ThrowawayR2
If you're putting 100% of your energy into your day job such that you're exhausted at the end of every day, you might want to tone it down a little. I'm not saying to become a do-the-minimum slacker, as some might, but you do need to keep some capability in reserve for a crisis.

One trick is to identify skills that will help you build the apps/scripts that you want to build for yourself, think of a way to apply those skills that benefit your work, and justify learning them on the job that way. This makes it a win-win for both you and your employer.

constantinum
I’m now starting the day with hobbies/passion projects
aregsar
try to take a short nap after you get home before working on your project and then try to work just one hour on the project afterwards consistently monday through friday. try to increase to two hours per day. focus on just one task per day. Also try to do four hours each day on sat and sunday. finish one feature completely before moving onto the next feature to get the feedback of having accomplished something. reduce the scope of each feature so that you have a chance of completing a feature about every two weeks. try to get user feedback as soon as you can for the completed features for further motivation. setup a kanban board for your project and move the highest priority feature through the lanes before starting the next highest priority feature. Good luck
stocknoob
Med term strat: get financial independence and spend your days doing what you actually enjoy.